Artemsisia-Escape from Goblin Cottage

<Where are they? I know I put them in here!> Arty thought as she kicked one more goblin away from her ankles  and ducked another that dropped from the ceiling as she frantically sifted through both of her pockets for the little twists of waxed paper that contained just enough gunpowder to make a loud bang. <why did I have to put so much stuff in here?>

Things were getting a bit desperate, she and Brunehault had been trapped in the single room of a little stone cottage when they'd foolishly entered it in hopes of rescuing their fellow woodwife who'd been captured by one of their own gone bad. Instead it had been a trap. For as soon as they'd entered and one of them had touched the two things their opponent had left for them, the kidnapped woodwife's coat and a taunting message, they'd been swarmed by what felt like an entire nest's worth of goblins. Most of whom seemed to be intent on dragging both of them down to the ground. And far too many of which were between the woodwives and the door. The window wasn't a good option thanks to the heavy shutters that were closed tightly over them. Just enough space in there for some light to leak out but not enough for even the most slender of humans or familiars.

At least it sounded like Brunehault  and Lady Rose were holding their own for all the trembling in the other woodwife's shoulders that Arty could feel where they pressed against hers. Arty let out a loud whoop as her hand closed around a cylinder of paper and without even looking at it she tossed it out in front of her only to see it unfurl into a pair of anti-goblin wards she had been working on while waiting for the Lord of Summer to come fetch her for a conference about the goblins she'd discovered earlier that day in Hyde Park.

The wards fell down and the only effect was for the goblins they touched to shiver violently and duck out from under them. The  papers settled down on two suddenly bare spots of floor but that was all. Arty bared her teeth at her minature foes and dug harder into her pockets.

She caught a quick glimpse of Orion's ears going up a moment before she heard what sounded like a wolf howling right outside the cottage and it was followed a moment later by Orion calling out an incongruously happy greeting in response. There was no time for the look Arty shot her familiar but she dared it anyway only for said familiar to send her a quick feeling that indicated that he thought the wolf was on their side. Arty shrugged and let it go. They had plenty more worrisome things to deal with right in front(and back an' side's) of them at the moment. 

Finally, her hand closed round the objects she'd been seeking and she gleefully tossed both flashbangs into the air over the goblin's heads and summoned a pair of sparks to set them off. 

"Brune! Run for the door now!" Arty shouted, putting action to words, even as her other hand closed upon the candle stub she must have pocketed last night on her way out to her accidental meeting with Brunehault earlier this evening. 

The flashbangs went off spectacularly, as if the confines of the stone cottage somehow amplified the noise they made.  And the exploding flashbangs plus the seemingly mad charge of both woodwives and their familiars seemed to cause the goblins in front of them to scatter. Arty let out another loud inarticulate yell as she pulled forth the candle and brought it to life with another summoned spark. That candle turned out to be a savior when the girls almost ran right into the door in their frantic rush to leave the cottage; and a few of the bolder goblins rushed them. The goblins backed up however when Arty swiped the candle in their direction. Brune got the door open a moment later and both woodwives and their familiar dashed out into the welcoming night.